Tag: maternal-health
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Jul 12, 2010
The Realities of Childbirth in Ethiopia: A Visit to the Adet Health Center in Amhara
Adet Health Center is only 40 kilometers from the city of Bahir Dar but the road is muddy, narrow, and full of pot holes, so the journey takes an hour and a half. We drive through lush fields of teff and maize and pass through small villages where donkeys, goats, and chickens are tied up waiting to be sold. Children carry babies on their backs and play on the side of the road while women carry firewood for cooking. Men are building new homes with wood, stones, and mud. Everyone is busy, and I wonder how this land of 80 million people can sustain the never-ending consumption of natural resources. We arrive at the Adet Health Center, which looks like many others I have seen here. People are hanging around wrapped in their white scarves—men with their walking sticks and women in traditional green dresses, silver crosses, and tattooed faces. Everyone looks thin and tired. The health care workers are seeing patients and filling out prescriptions and record books. In Ethiopia, health centers provide antenatal care and delivery services, but most women still deliver at home because the health center is too far away or they cannot pay for the services. Only 7% of... Read More »
